Chapter 174.

PART 1.

The festival is starting today. “So, do you look forward to it?” asked Govind, cousin of Suraj.

“Nah,” said Hatori, wheezing like an old man. “I don’t have the energy like you young whippersnappers.”

Govind looks at him, not certain who is he mocking. Before he could ask anything, Josh calls out to Hatori. “Oy, we’re going to the forest for a picnic. Are you coming?” he asked.

“Coming, coming!” said Hatori, suddenly having all the energy in the world.

Govind just decided to forget the entire incident. the menace of the Academy acting so freely is freaking him out. “I’ll just eat some cotton candy. Yeah. that is the right course of action.”

He then forgot everything in the sweet haze of cotton candy.

PART 2.

Most of Hatori’s group is gathered here in the evening, watching the sunset, and talking about their work this year. “I’ve got to complete some equations which are necessary for the wards. I’m done with it, but I’m drawing it out because the guys in my group are assholes.” Said Josh.

“Mind your language!” Raven could not resist that jab, given how much Josh bothers everyone to have a clean language.

“They deserve it.” he huffed.

“Whatever. I’m preparing for the tournament, and drawing up some hypothetical military plans. And for a change, they are not about defending.” Said Raven.

“Yeah, I doubt you’ll make a lot of friends if you say that you like making plans to invade the surrounding areas.” Said Shin. “Anyway, I’m working on a hypnotic spell using music, targeting sleep-deprived people.”

“That sounds like it would be useful for me,” said Hatori.

“I’m doing my time under Slaughter.” Said James. “Yesterday, I even helped him out with surgery.”

“Cool.” Said everyone, knowing how difficult the surgery can be.

“As for me, I’m working to teleport an object.” Hatori said.

“Didn’t you complete that already?” asked Liang.

“Yeah, but the previous implementation is stationary. Besides, it is more of me trying to summon that object to my location. Master Munshi did the same thing when I was with him, it helped out in escaping this mad necromancer.” He explained.

“And of course, professor Krodhatma will grade this project?” said Maria, knowing the answer to her question already.

“Naturally. He’ll get easy marks from him,” said Liang.

“That is not true.” Denies Hatori. “He does not do favoritism.”

Everyone looks at Hatori strangely. Then they look at each other. They silently decide that yes, he is that clueless. However Professor Krodhatma does indeed take his field seriously, and he is unlikely to favor anyone, no matter how much he likes them.

PART 3.

As the professors and the students walk out of his office, Suraj slumps on his desk. Who would have thought that organizing this festival was such an exhausting task? The students have no idea of the effort which the organizers have to make every year.

This reminds Suraj that he has to do this next year as well. but he then remembers how Josh managed to do this, and he was even younger than him when he started out as the president. He did this exhausting task, year after year without complaint, as a result respect for Josh in Suraj’s heart increased.

Energized by remembering Josh’s example, Suraj straightens up and starts to work with more energy again.

PART 4.

Hatori is approaching the door to the secret ground. He wants to go underground, reach the room of frozen time, do some modifications, and work on his project for Professor Krodhatma. He hears some weird noises coming from behind the banyan tree, located right in front of the oak tree where he often sits to relax.

Normally, Hatori ignores any such noises. But this time, his head turns as if it is no longer under his control, and he observes some raunchy things going on between two students. He is aware of what is going on, Zeko has given him the talk. But let’s just say that he hasn’t pursued any girl like that, and coming face-to-face with the practical reality is a bit jarring for him. he wills his feet to move, and they finally move.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Hey, Hatori!” calls Daphne, running to him. “Why do you look like you’ve just seen something horrifying?” she asked.

She has never seen him this unsettled, not when the school turned on him, and not when he was facing her in the ring. Hatori starts to describe what he saw haltingly, and Daphne starts to laugh. Getting annoyed, Hatori moves.

“Hey…. Wait!” she tries to follow him, but she is unable to pursue him due to her own laughter.

Who would have thought that one of the boys was such a prude? She decides to share this amusing story with Ravina. She is sure to have a laugh with it, just like her.

PART 5.

In the room of frozen time, Shin and James are with a dog. Hatori comes there, still sporting a scared look. “What’s up with you?” asked Shin.

“Never mind,” said Hatori, not wanting to talk about it. he instead brings out his notes and starts to work on the modifications he wants to do.

then, Josh comes in and sees the dog. “Do you recognize him?” asked James.

“Yeah, I possessed him,” said Josh.

“Yeah, be careful. The guy who trapped you inside him is still here,” said Shin, pointing out Hatori who is doing something with his runes.

Josh looks and turns to the dog. “How’re you doing buddy?” he asked, and the dog waved his tail. “I’ll take it quite well.”

He pets the dangerous-looking dog and remembers the crazy time he had in the past.

PART 6.

next day, Dimitri restarts their training. “Come on coach,” whined Shin, “Can’t you give us a month off?”

“No. I won’t let you unless you have something to perform at the festival itself. Maybe some of you would like to take part in another dueling tournament?” he asked and got negative headshakes everywhere. Only Hatori remained unmoved.

“Fine. I know that you have some music-related obligations. So I will let you have some time to practice and rehearse. But nothing more than a few hours, do you understand?” Shin nods, realizing that the coach is not going to melt by his tearful look.

“Besides, if you win this tournament, your name will be etched in the school’s history. What’s a month of festival compared to that?” asked Dimitri.

“What about the other winning teams of the past?” asked Hatori. “What happened to their trophies? Were they thrown aside or something?”

The other students also wanted to know, so they nodded at Hatori’s question. Dimitri grabs Hatori by his shoulder and marches him to the achievements hall. “Look there.” he points to a specific section. “Mahendra was the last captain who won this trophy fifty years ago for your school.” Said Dimitri.

“Hey, look. There is a Durve here as well!” said Josh. “We should tell Nandan about it.”

“Yeah.” agreed Shin. “Look, a Patel.” Notes Ravina. “Maybe you should bring Sagar here, eh Avinash?”

“Yeah. that ought to light a fire under him,” said Avinash blandly.

He knows Sagar well. That guy has a great sense of business, but when it comes to physical activities, he is even lazier than Josh. He is quite lucky that he tolerates his laziness. He would have ended up becoming Hatori’s enemy if he met him first.

Tom and Shin then look at Bhagat. he is the only captain to have no name after his first name. he must have been great to have captained a team despite this. inspired by his example, both of them decide that they will make the nameless children proud, and no one will dare to look down upon them after their performance in the tournament.

PART 7.

Raven looks at the games of the first day. he notes the moves the players made. Judging by these games, he can already tell who will go to the next round, and who will not. but the important point for him is not to judge this game, but to assess how strong the opening preparation of the players is this year.

he notes the moves of the final game, playing some variations in his head. ‘Looks like preparation is strong this year. I will have to step up my game, or I’ll lose the trophy in my final year.’ he thinks to himself.

Raven wants to graduate as a champion, one of the few players who have done it. but the level of chess played by other players is threatening this ambition.